Transmission-gearing.



J. G. SPARKS.

TRANSMISSION GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6, 1912.

1,055,677, Patented Mar. 11,1913

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. G. SPARKS.

TRANSMISSION GEARING.

APPLlGATION FILED JULYe, 1912.

Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@Lbbomm J. 0. SPARKS TRANSMISSION GEAR-ING.

APPLICATION FILED JULYG, 1912.

1,055,677. Patented Mar. 11,1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. G. SPARKS.

TRANSMISSION GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED JULYB, 1912.

Patented Mar. 11, i913,

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

; I Elm 0M4 30 JCjparrki J. G. SPARKS. TRANSMISSION GEARING. APPLICATION FILED JULYs, 1912.

Patented Mar. 11,1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

J. O. SPARKS. TRANSMISSION GEARING.

APPLICATION IILED JULY 6, 1912. 1,655,?"1 Patented Mar. 11, 1913.

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JASON 0.,SPARKS, CONCORD, NEBRASKA.

TRANSIVIISSI OEN- GEARING.

Yb a. whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, JASON C. SPARKS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Concord, in the county of Dixon and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Transmission-Gearing, of which the following a specificabecontrolled automatically through the op? tlon.

The present invention relates to transmission and has or its purposeto provide a system of transmission gearing for automobiles or similar power-driven vehicles whereby the driven wheels of the rear axle maybe rotated at speeds commensurate with the degree of turning which .the vehicle may take and wherein-suchdifferential driving may 'eration of the steering gear of the car.

Another-object of'the invention consists in having a transmission gearing of the above-mentioned type with means associated therewith for effecting the reverse drive of the vehicle without reversing the "engine; and-it isfurther proposed that the entire system and'its manner of arrange ment and operation may be of simple con struction, easily operated, and inexpensive to'produce'.-

. With theseand other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and Combination of parts hereinafter claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details shown and described, still, for the purpose of disclosure, reference is had to the accompanying drawing, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which,

,Figure l is a top plan view illustrating the application of the invention, with certain arts omitted for clearness,.to a vehicle;

*ig. 2 is a top plan view of the cone andfriction drive detail; Fig. 3 is a transverse 'sectional view of Fig. 2, takenon the line' 33,thereof; Fig, t is a top plan View, partly in section, oft-he driving gear connection with the vehicle wheels; Fig. 5 is a view corresponding with Fig. 1 of a modified construction; Fig. 6 is a view corre sponding with ig. 2 of the construction shown in F ig. 5.; Fig. 7 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the steeringapparatus; and associated parts; Fig. 8 is a side elevationalview, partly in section, of" the gear shifting mechanism; Fig. 9 is a sec- *i nal View taken along line 99 of Fig. 8,

gearing for motor-driven vehicles,

looking in the direction of the arrows, and Fig. 10 is a detail view, partly in elevation and section, of the upper portion of the controlling lever and associated parts' vehicle, and 2'the motor therefor, whose driving shaft 3 is equipped with the usual fiy-w'heel 4 and a friction cone gear 'A' pair of friction gear wheels 6 and 7 are mounted respectively on driven shafts 8 and 9, which are in angularly clearly shown'in Figs. 1 and 2. g

The shafts 8 and 5) are equipped respectively with cone pinions 10 and 11 meshing respectively with gears 12 and that are secured to the halves 14 and 15 ofth'e rear axle, said halves having fixed thereon, in the usual manner, the driving wheels 16 journaled on the vehicle frame and 17 of the vehicle, and through the medium of which the car driven when the gear elements are in that relation indicated in Fig. 1.

The friction gear wheels6 and 7 are splmed on thenrespective shafts 8 and 9, and are adapted to be moved in the same or opposite directions for imparting increased, dccreased, or differential rotation to said shafts 8 and 9 from the'cone gear 5, and the means for effecting which will now be described.

The diiferential control for imparting different speeds to the wheels 16 and 17 when the vehicle is turning 'is actuated through the steering mechanism (see Fig.

disposed or cross relation, as

I Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnted BT31, 11,1913; Application filed July 6, 1912. Serial No. 708,076:

7), whose wheel 18 has a pinion 19 splined on the steering shaft 20, and said pinion 19 is adapted to be moved into or out-of engagement with a similar pinion 21 by a manual control, consisting of a rod 22 having a fork 28 engaging with the grooved collar 24 of said pinion 19, and said rod 22 is actuated through a lever 25 fulcrumed on the tubular support 26 of the steering mechanism; The pinion 21 is secured on the shaft 27 and has on its opposite end a cone pinion 28 that is always in'mesh with a pair of cone pinions 29 and 30, (see Figs. land 8). The pinions 29 and 30 are mopnted on'a shaft 31 that is disposed transversely of the chassis l, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the pinionBO'beiug secured to said shaft, and the pinion 29 being keyed to a sleeve 33 that is free to rotate on said shaft. The sleeve '33 and shaft 31 are each provided witha project g 1,055 er."

ing arm 34- (see' Fig. 2), and said arms have link connections 35 that engage with arms 36 for shifting the friction wheels 6 and 7. Each of the arms 36 has a collar or sleeve portion 37 mounted to slide on its support.- ing bar 38 that is disposed parallel with its respective driven shaft 8 or f); and said arms 36 have forked ends 35) engaging with grooved. collars 40 that are secured to thefriction wheels 6 and 7, as in the ordinary manner. With this arrangement it will be seen that the turning of the steering wheel 18 will, through the connections 19, Q0, 21, 27 and 28, rotate the cone pinions Q9 and 30 in opposite directions causing the arms 34: to move correspondingly, and said arms, in turn, will shift the respective friction gear wheels (3 and. 7 toward and from the apex of the cone gear 5. The driven shafts 8 and 9 will then be rotated at different speeds, and the vehicle wheels 16 and 17 driven accordingly.

The manual means for shifting the gear wheels 6 and 7 simultaneously and in the same direction for effecting uniform speeds of the shafts 8 andl) consists of a lever ll fulerumed on the shaft 31 and having a handle 42 that is within convenient reach of the driver. A clutch member rigid on the shaft 31, and is adapted to engage with a complementary clutch 1nen1hc1m-fl4 that is formed integral with the sleeve that carries the arm 34. Said clutch member {H- is moved into and out of engageme1'1t with the clutch member 43, through the medium of a forked arm 45 that is secured to a sleeve 4:6,and said sleeve is, in turn mounted to slide on a shaft l7 that is fixed on the lever When the shaft 31 may be turned through the swinging of the lever M. This angular movement of the shaft 31 will swing the a11"n 1. 34, carried by the sleeve 33, and shift its respective gear wheel engaging with the ear 5.v A clutch member 52 is con- ;m ecte to be rotated by the lever 41, and is faaapted to be engaged by a complementary dutch member 53 that is splined on the shaft 31. Said clutch member 53 is secured to the sleeve 46by a forked arm 5-1, and adapted tobe thrown into and out of engagement 'with the clutch member 52, as in that man- "ner described of the clutch member 44. Through the engagement of the clutch elemnts52 and 53 the shaft 31 is rotated and,

in turn, rotates the arm 34:.f01' shifting its same as that stated,

which the lever ll is moved may be fixed through the medium of a quadrant rack 55, whose teeth are engaged by a pawl 56 thatis carried by the rod 51, (see Fig. 9). Said rod 51 is normally held in its raised position through the medium of a. spring 57 engaging with a movable collar 58, mounted on said rod, and a fixed member 59 secured to the lever 41. It will be understood that the steering gear control mechanism, shown in Fig. 7, will be thrown out of action when the manual controlled mechanism, shown 'in Fig. 8, is being used.

The means for effecting the reverse of travel of the vehicle consists of a pair of gears 13 and 60, (see Figs. 1,4 and 5) that are tormcd integral with the sleeves or collars (S1 on which the gears 12. and 60 are mounted, and which are splined on the axle halves l4 and 15. Said gearwheels 13 and (W are adapted to be simultaneously thrown in .o engagement with the driving pinions 10 and 11.. through the medium of a bell crank lever (iLwhosc arm 62 is connected by a rod (iii to a shaft G l disposed transversely of the vehicle and which shaft is provided with a 9, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4. As the gear wheels 18 ,and SO are thrown into engagement with the pinions 10 and 11, the gear wheels 12 and 60 are, by the same operation, thrown out of engagement with said gear for obvious reasons.

'-ll1e modified construction illustrated in Figs. and 6 is substantially the same as that shown in the other figures described in the foregoing,with the exception that the cone gear 5 is extended more to the rear of the vehicle frame and has its position reversed to the end that the driven shafts 8 and 9*} are of relatively shorter length than the corresponding shafts in the foregoing construction. This arrangement enables of a more even distribution of the weight of the gearing, and for which reason it may be preferred on certain types of cars. It will also be noted that in this construction a greater length of driving shaft 3* is necessary. In all other respects, however, the arrangement and manner of operation is the described construction.

with respect to the firsti 3 It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofv construction and arrangement of parts without departing from spirit of my invention, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to such features except as may be required by the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by I". S. Letters Patent, is:

1. The combination with a motor-driven vehicle having a steering mechanism and a frictional driving gear wheel: of a pair of angularly disposed driven shafts having gearing connections with the vehicle driven wheels; shafts disposed adjacent and paral lel to said driven shafts; arms mounted to slide on said second-mulled shafts; friction gear wheels splined on said first-named shafts and engaging with the driving frie tion wheel, said arms engaging. with said splined gear wheels; a shaft disposed transversely of the vehicle; arms mounted to swing on said transversely disposed shaft; connections between said swinging arms and said lirst-named arms; pinions connected with said swinging arms; and gearing connections between said pinions and the steering mechanism automatically operable to move the swinging arms lll'OPlJOSltG directions for imparting relatively different speeds to said driven shafts, substantially as descril )((l 2. The combination with .a motor-driven vehicle. having a steering mechanism and a conical friction drivlng gear; of a pair 'of angularly disposed driven shafts journaled on the vehicle and having driving connection with the driven vehicle wheels: a pair of friction gear wheels splined on said driven shafts and engaging with said conical gear wheel; a shaft disposed transversely of the vehicle; a pair said transversely disposed shaft an arm connected with each of said pinions; a pinion meshing with both of said pinions and adapted to rotate the same in opposite directions; gearing connections between said engaging pinion and the steering mechanism operable to automatically actuate said pinions for shifting said splined gear wheels in opposite directions to impart relativelv different speeds to said driven shafts; and manually actuated means for swinging said arms in the same direction for shifting said splined gear wheels in the same direction to produce variable speeds of shafts. substantially as described.

In testimony whereof l afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JASON C. SPARKS.

Witnesses I D. V AN Doxsnnaan 7 I A. BRENNURAN.

of pinions journaled on' said driven- 

